200 Gallons

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rambler

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So I'm curiuos. I have never come even close to making my 200 gallon limit for My household. I think my best year is around 75 gal.

What are y'alls biggest brew years. I thought 75 gallons is a lot, because I drank most of it' but I have a feeling there are some folks out there making a whole lot more than that.

And of course only the homebrews count.
 
Since it's illegal for me to make more than 200 gallons of beer/wine/mead/cider a year, I of course have made only 200 gallons per year.

Keep in mind that often winemakers will have 20 gallons or more in carboys that sit a year or two. So, it's not like 200 gallons gets made and consumed that quickly!
 
So yooper you have actually maxed it out is what your saying, I mean of course you'd stop after 200 gallons.

What do you do with it, I mean thats about .5 gallon per day?
 
rambler said:
So yooper you have actually maxed it out is what your saying, I mean of course you'd stop after 200 gallons.

What do you do with it, I mean thats almost 2 gal/day to drink?
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We make tons of wine! We have a cellar, and love filling it with fruit wines. Current favorites are crabapple and chokecherry, although we do make kits and grape wines as well. I have no idea how much wine we make a year- but our cellar isn't increasing at all so it's not enough!

I brew as often as I can, and we drink about three kegs a month. Just for us at the house. We rarely take beer out, and we rarely have parties.
 
Let's just say I brewed 55 gallons in a month...
 
So reading between the lines yooper. You and ur hubby drink like its your job. Im a huge fan of that. I dont have a pipeline that well established but when I do i see no problem of polishing 3 kegs a month solo style.
 
Sorry i did my mathbackwards thats only Half a gal/day. But that still seems like a lot of beer to drink.

Maybe it just sounds like a lot to me because I'm the only beer drinker in the house, so if it's gonna get drank I'm the only one thats gonna do it, thankfully i'm more than willing to try

I had'nt counted the wine and ciders we had made, I could probably add about 25 gallons between the two of those so even then that only brings me up to 100.

All this was when I lived within crawling distance from the LHBS, so now that I'm 300 miles away from the closest one I dont see 100 gallons happening again.
 
just remember that some states have limits that are lower than the federal limit.. and this is a public forum... just saying
 
First year, 200 gallons. Switched from 5 gallon to 10 gallon batches about half way through.

Just Do It.
 
theonetrueruss said:
just remember that some states have limits that are lower than the federal limit.. and this is a public forum... just saying
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I think the above is worth repeating. Some people seem to have no appreciation for the things they put on the Internet- and I hope they don't believe for an instant that they are protected by using and online name, or the fact that their e-mail address isn't displayed,. People have lost their jobs and have permanently affected their employability because of ill-considered Facebook posts, for example.

As for me, I enjoy brewing, but have never gone over 100 gal / yr.
 
This will be my first full year brewing. I only started in November of last year... But, I'm on target for hitting 100 gallons before the year is out. I might even squeeze in a batch, or two, of mead in the fall... Well, once my current mead batches are in bottles that is. :D

Once I'm legally able to, I can see trying to hit close to 200 gallons in a year... Until then, 100 gallons will be the mark I'm aiming for.
 
I agree people have to be careful when they post. I have found out the hard way that it's better to just play by the rules. It's bad whenever the sheriff shows up at the door, but it's much worse when it's the ATF
 
I started in July of last year and made something like 52.5 gallons before the year was over. I plan on topping 100 this year. So far I'm only at 20, but I also brewed a pilsner in February which I lagered so it tied up my freezer for a few months. I've done 15 gallons in the last week.
 
is the Federal limit 200 gallons of homemade fermented Alcohol products? or is it 200 wine +200 beer (assuming 2 adults in the domicile, if there is only 1, it is only 100)

Does anyone know? I've not been able to determie that answer to that just from reading over what is on websites of TTB.

Oh and lets see last year was my biggest so far with about 25 gallons of wine (mostly from kits) and about 20 of beer I think.
 
ACbrewer said:
is the Federal limit 200 gallons of homemade fermented Alcohol products? or is it 200 wine +200 beer (assuming 2 adults in the domicile, if there is only 1, it is only 100)

Does anyone know? I've not been able to determie that answer to that just from reading over what is on websites of TTB.
Click to expand...

From what I've read, it's 200 gallons of anything fermented. This includes beer, wine, etc...

You can look up the specifics for your state here...

For Virginia...
 
One, Two Thee, Fo,
tumblr_l87aeaU8rr1qzp5buo1_400.jpg
 
Last year was my first partial year homebrewing. I think I hit 45 gallons.

Here in PA, my wife and I will brew 200 gallons this year. I will also go to my buddies house and him and his wife will probably brew 200 gallons as well.

I have a question about that. If I am helping him brew, and after it is fermented and bottled I take a case or two back, that doesnt count against my number right?
 
I have never even come close to hitting my household limit. My SWMBO doesn't drink very much, and I although compared to her I drink a lot, it still only works out to a few pints a week of homebrew, so the batches tend to last a while.

What usually happens is I will go on a steamer and brew several batches over the course of a few months, but then end up with a huge backlog of beer and run out of storage. Then I spend the next several months going through all the backlog and whittling it down to where all of a sudden I've run out of homebrew to drink, and I drink some commercial beers while I repeat the first step.
 
kpr121 said:
I have a question about that. If I am helping him brew, and after it is fermented and bottled I take a case or two back, that doesnt count against my number right?
Click to expand...

good question, I was wondering the same thing
 
rambler said:
I agree people have to be careful when they post. I have found out the hard way that it's better to just play by the rules. It's bad whenever the sheriff shows up at the door, but it's much worse when it's the ATF
Click to expand...

Sounds like a good story - will you share?
 
Sorry to disappoint but no, i've never had the ATF show up...yet

The sheriff, a few times and one hell of party with the fire dept, 8 trucks worth!
 
what if you spill half the batch during bottling, do you get credit for the beer spilled?
 
Scoff if you will, but there are not many paranoid people in jail... :) Just stay away from Polk county FL if you're doing >200. The Sheriff there is a media junkie and will do anything to get on TV / in the paper. He has staff that does nothing but surf the net looking to make trouble. Seriously. He brags about it to anyone that will listen. Know your Sheriff!
 
GatorDad said:
Scoff if you will, but there are not many paranoid people in jail... :) Just stay away from Polk county FL if you're doing >200. The Sheriff there is a media junkie and will do anything to get on TV / in the paper. He has staff that does nothing but surf the net looking to make trouble. Seriously. He brags about it to anyone that will listen. Know your Sheriff!
Click to expand...
He is such a tool.

Yooper said:
Since it's illegal for me to make more than 200 gallons of beer/wine/mead/cider a year, I of course have made only 200 gallons per year.
Click to expand...
That's my story and I'm sticking to it!
 
Is it Jan. 1 to Jan. 1, or October 1 to October 1? Does it include what's left in the trub, after I keg? If I go over 200 gallons, do I need to install a "Tax Tank" or will I go to jail?
How much time will I spend in jail for 201 gallons?
 
From what a small local winnery guy said, he had to track the alcohol made in his primary before racking or bottling. So he was taxed on that, not what he bottled

I don't know how that applies for our helping the friend or the trub question
 
Pick said:
Is it Jan. 1 to Jan. 1, or October 1 to October 1? Does it include what's left in the trub, after I keg? If I go over 200 gallons, do I need to install a "Tax Tank" or will I go to jail?
How much time will I spend in jail for 201 gallons?
Click to expand...

From what I've been able to discover, it's in a calendar year (Jan 1st to December 31st of the same year). It also applies to what you've actually brewed... So whatever you started during that time frame is counted. If you brew batches in late December, that won't be bottled until January/February, they are counted in the previous year.

So, if you still have room before you hit your limit, in a year, and you have some time to brew, make more batches in December. Even though you'll probably bottle them up in January (depending on what you brew and your method) and enjoy them in the new year, they go against the limit from the previous year.

IMO, it does make things a bit difficult to determine if you've gone over the limit (for the government that is)... Of course, if you're only off by a small amount, that's probably not even looked into. BUT, if you're brewing hundreds of gallons in a year, I'd be very careful... Although if you're brewing THAT much, you should probably look to get at least a nano brewery license and not need to worry about it.
 
I couldn't possibly brew more than 200 gallons of anything. I drink alone, almost all the time (I mean, I rarely have anyone else drinking my beer, not that I drink all the time...)

I don't know how you guys can do it! I'm lucky if I brew 5 gallons a month. Maybe when the kids are gone or are of drinking age.
 
Ok I have a question on the whole 200G limit. I brew with 2 friends and we rotate places that we brew. Im assuming that only the brews that are brewed on location at my house would count against my household number. Overall it just seems so confusing to try and track down actual numbers that "my household" has brewed. What if I have a friend over and send him home with half the beer. Or better yet, send him home with the wort and Yeast.

It all just seems so diluted and hard to track. I agree with the cautious folks on here and will say that I only brew within the legal limits. Once I reach my limits I just have to find a new neighbor or friend to bring to the darkside!!
 
Not even close. I don't have anywhere to put that much alcohol; let alone the fortitude to drink that much.

Even if I had the time, I think I would struggle to make it to 50 gallons a year.
 

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